Kung Fu Panda 2 Review

After 3 years of waiting, everyone’s favourite Dragon Warrior is back and he’s hungrier than ever. For justice. And noodles. Kung Fu Panda 2 sees Po and the Furious Five go toe to toe with the evil Lord Shen, a peacock with attitude. The result is a warm, funny, face-punching, ass-kicking, peacock-smashing, inner peace-seeking romp that I defy you not to enjoy.

Like King Fu Panda, the sequel is a feast for the eyes. This movie is seriously beautiful. The world that the designers and art directors have created is stunning, vibrant and never questionable. The 3D is extremely well realised and, unlike the rest of the 3D barrage to which we’ve been subjected, adds to the film and makes it richer. The action sequences are miles beyond the standard that one would expect of a “kids'” movie, being both expertly choreographed and inventively unique.

The script is smart, furiously paced and painfully funny (I nearly choked to death on my popcorn). The humour is pitched at a variety of levels, pleasing both the adults and children in the audience, with plenty to keep your ribs tickled. In fact, the film was actually so much fun that it feels less like 90 minutes and more like 30. Time really does fly.

The original film’s cast returns, met by newcomers Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh and Danny McBride. All three bring a new spark to cast, with no weak link among them. One complaint is that, in a cast so big, the Furious Five are sidelined with only a handful of lines between them. The focus rests mostly on Jack Black, but as the first movie proved, this is no bad thing. He is completely comfortable as Po and voices him with an effortless charm.

All in all Kung Fu Panda 2 is an action-pakced, fun-filled adventure and whether or not it surpasses its predecessor, it definitely matches it.